Men's Basketball

Brandeis men drop third in a row, 78-68, against WashU

Feb 17, 2006

WALTHAM, Mass. -- Sophomore guard Danny O'Boyle (Scottsdale,
Ariz.) came off the bench to score a career-high 23 points to lead
the visiting Washington (Mo.) University men's basketball team to a
78-68 win over Brandeis in Auerbach Arena tonight. The Bears' win,
coupled with a loss by league-leader Carnegie Mellon at Emory, puts
WashU and CMU into a two-way tie for the University Athletic
Association (UAA) lead with two games to play.

WashU (16-7, 8-4 UAA) was paced by O'Boyle's 23 points on
eight-of-10 shooting, including five-of-six from 3-poiunt range and
a pair of free throws. He hit his first six shots from the floor
before missing midway through the second half. The Bears also got
17 points from senior Scott Stone (St. Louis, Mo.), who had three
trifectas, and 12 points and a team- and game-high eight rebounds
from sophomore Troy Ruths (Sugarland, Texas). Stone, Ruths and
rookie Sean Wallis (Northbrook, Ill.) all tied for team-high honors
with five assists.

Brandeis (12-11, 5-7 UAA) dropped its third straight league
contest despite a game-high 26 points – 22 in the second half
- from sophomore forward Steve DeLuca (Merrimack, N.H.), who tied
with Ruths for game-high honors with eight boards. DeLuca hit
10-of-16 from the floor with three-of-four beyond the arc and at
the foul line. The Judges also got a career-high 14 points off the
bench from rookie Kevin Olson (Rockport, Mass.), who hit
four-of-eight, including three-of-five from downtown. Sophomore
guard Kwame Graves-Fulgham (Amherst, Mass.) had a season-high with
nine assists.

The Judges jumped out very quickly in this contest, hitting seven
of their first 10 buckets and racing out to a 15-6 lead just under
five minutes into the game. WashU clawed back, however, outscoring
the Judges, 23-9 the rest of the way in the first half to claim a
32-26 lead at intermission. Stone and senior Mike Grunst
(Milwaukee, Wis.) each had eight points at the break for the
visitors, while Grave-Fulgham and sophomore guard Florian Rexhepi
(Skopje, Macedonia) had six each for the Judges. Brandeis hurt
themselves with 13 turnovers in the first half to Washington's
eight.

Brandeis pulled within one on three different occasions in the
second half, the last on a DeLuca lay-up with 15:46 on the clock
that cut the Bear lead to 40-39. WashU answered with a knockout
blow, scoring 12 unanswered points over the next three minutes,
including eight by O'Boyle that gave them a 52-39 lead. WashU was
ahead by as many as 17, but the Judges got within five with just
over a minute left on a pair of DeLuca free throws. WashU hit
seven-of-eight from the charity stripe to ice the game.